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No such thing as Uber in Turkey anymore, says Erdoğan

2018-06-02

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday said that Uber’s ride-hailing services in Turkey are a thing of the past, as he pulled the plug on the personal taxi system following months of controversy, Dunya newspaper reported.

"We have a taxi system," the Turkish President said during a speech he delivered in İstanbul’s Yenikapı district, adding that a personal taxi system such as Uber would not be allowed to destroy Turkish taxi drivers’ business.

"This Uber business that came about, it's over. There's no such thing anymore," the Turkish president said.

Turkish taxi drivers have been protesting Uber operations in an increasingly violent fashion in the country for months, citing both unfair competition and illegal business practices by the service. The Turkish government has stood behind taxi drivers and remained a vocal critic of Uber.

Uber drivers in Istanbul alone were slapped with 18.92 million lira ($4.20 million) in fines by Turkish police in the first five months of this year.